Not much happening in comics right now; Warren Ellis and Sleeper do not a crime comics movement make; dog tired of ugly art [Permanent Damage]

It seems most comics creators would love to do a western... the same way seemingly everyone who starts writing for Marvel wants to do a DR. STRANGE project while there's little indication many existing comics readers give a rat's ass about Dr. Strange, something sales on DR. STRANGE projects have borne out practically forever.

THE PULSE: Your story with frequent collaborator Marshall Rogers, also features the Ancient One from Doctor Strange. Who is Young Ancient One at this point in time?

ENGLEHART: I think we'll all find that out together (if this one-shot leads to a series). I have to add, Marshall and I created the name "Yao" all on our own - for "Young Ancient One" - only to discover that there'd been an Epic series a few years back about "Yao." I wrote to the guys who did that offering to change our name but never heard back, so we'll have to assume our Yao comes in between their Yao and our Doctor Strange.

Court rejects First Amendment protection for comic book [News Media Update] [via Comics Reporter] [ICv2]
Missouri Court of Appeals upholds $15 million jury verdict against Todd McFarlane for including a character in Spawn based on hockey player Tony Twist; rules it violated Twist's publicity rights and was used for "commercial advantage".
CR: "[I]t's probably right to be concerned this case's success could make all sorts of satirical work harder to do in the future."

Interesting Civil War speculation: Spider-Man's big ID unmasking in #2 will almost certainly be undone- and with it, the recently-much-discussed albatross of Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane [Progressive Ruin]
Neilalien joins with his brothers and sisters in the backlash against Civil War. The secret identity is not core-fundamental to all of the superheroes who have one, but it is to Spidey (and Superman- need the Clark Kent). They risk breaking, not bending, the character.

Neilalien's enjoying Civil War so far. We'll have to see how #3 goes, what Dr. Strange's appearance in #3 will be like, how they chew the Spidey thing, and what else they break...

Complicated ideas can only get superficial treatment in superhero comics before the built-in limitations and adolescent punchings-in-spandex start [Comics Comics] [Comics Reporter]
Another kind of Civil War backlash. Neilalien's always been of the opinion that superhero stories, action movies, etc., can yes provide sterner scaffolding for the deeper and more adult. If a mystery novel with a lower-class black cop investigating a murder in white upper-class society includes something interesting to say about racism (that's for more than just "pulp juice"), Neilalien doesn't think that such commentary is jolted into meaninglessness by an "everyone's locked in the same room on a stormy night" genre-trope ending. -- But (1) he's always seen the point of such analyses- superhero tropes can indeed be a lot more to overcome, since they can take over the world with their powers, resolutions gotta be through physical violence in masks, etc.; and (2) he's not claiming that Civil War fits any criteria for current-event depth so far.

Neilalien will be seeing Superman Returns over the holiday weekend, out in theaters yesterday...

A post about Superman and Superman Returns that fills even the most crustiest Superman anti-fan like Neilalien with hope and inspiration [Comics.212.net]

Will female superheroes get their (movie) glory? [Kansas City Star] [via WFC News]
We know it's possible, with Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels rockin'- so why are we getting disasters like Supergirl, Elektra and Catwoman?

"In order to foster women publishing independently, with economy, and as owners of what they create, I will award FOUR grants annually, of a year's free hosting at WebComicsNation.com, to women making a regularly-updating new or existing webcomic of any genre or style" [Lea Hernandez]

I think the biggest change that comics as a medium have to face now that more and more of them exist outside of the confines of the Direct Market is that everyone has to be a little smarter. There's a deceptive ease to working with only one distributor on both the retail and production ends of the business, but that deception disappears as soon as anyone asks a question or, say, wants a book from CPM. At The Beguiling we've never looked to Diamond to be our sole outlet for comics distribution; if we had the store probably wouldn't be around today. Any store that wants to stay a "Comics and Graphic Novels" retailer, rather than a "Corporate Superheroes Retailer" needs to be investigating every publisher and distributor out there. Likewise, publishers need to wake up and realize that putting all of your eggs into one basket is both foolhardy and actually limits access to your books on the whole. In short? There are hundreds of choices available to everyone participating in comics as a medium, and I think that the people who are going to succeed are the ones who will take advantage of those choices.

The True History of Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts [The Wastebasket Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three]
A fan mix of the official comics record, adding dates, and speculation fleshes out the Sorcerer Supreme's history. Interesting stuff!

Dan Adkins page from Doctor Strange #169 shown to be a swipe! [Lady, That's My Skull] [original; page from #169; cover of Wonder Stories]
Apparently swiped from a classic science fiction image, drawn by the great pulp and sci-fi artist Virgil Finlay for the reprinted S.S. Held story, "The Death of Iron" in the 01952 Wonder Stories Annual.

(Update: The great Skull post above originally credited Marie Severin as the renderer of the first interdimensional fanged mouth, but Neilalien's Agamotto Eye spied a fanged mouth in another dimension with a mystic path passing through it in Strange Tales #116, "Return To The Nightmare World", by Ditko.)

Also from that Skull post: Neilalien likes: Let's start calling the mid to late Strange Tales Dr. Strange run "Ditko Unleashed!"

Ninth Art, one of Neilalien's fave websites and weekly stops, ends after five years [Farewell] [Final Editor roundtable] [Last Article 10 column from Paul O'Brien] [Best of Best Lighthouse Awards]
A main meme of the final discussions seems to be that "Manga is its own creature, and Marvel is its own creature, and Fantagraphics is its own creature", going in different directions with mutually-exclusive markets and readerships. And the Marvel creature? Whether due to being conservative to not offend Hollywood and Wal-Mart, going for the quick shock and short-term cash grab, and/or barren of new ideas: imploding.

More about August's Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring The Black Rider by Englehart and Rogers [Newsarama]
Black Rider meets a strange Chinese man named Yao in New York. Young Ancient One.

Congratulations to Robert Kirkman on the birth of his son, Peter Parker Kirkman! [Buy My Books column at CBR]
Someday, in a big crossover, the child will battle against- and then, after realizing it was all a misunderstanding, team up with- Kal-El Cage.

If you hate the direction superhero comics are going: A Modest Manifesto [Confessions of a Comic Book Guy column on ICv2]
Vs. contempt for life, the characters, the consumers; lazy heroes, lazy creators and creators who hate superheroes.

I think the lesson of it is. if you're working on a non-flagship title, you better knock it out of the park with your first issue. There is no room for a slow or gradual build up. It's like Alan Moore's run on 'Swamp Thing.' Here's this book about a 3rd tier DC character by a writer who really wasn't that well known to American audience. But his run came out of the gate with 'The Anatomy Lesson.' That has to be the model now. Your first issue better have everyone talking - or you're dead. You need to be Kurt Busiek's 'Thunderbolts' #1. You need to sweat blood and get every ounce of it on the page. That's the lesson.

Osprey Publishing Plans Graphic History Line [ICv2]
A neat FYI to all the gamer Neilalienistas who have ever bought an Osprey military book to add realism to an historical RPG campaign or painted miniatures.

We Don't Talk Anymore The Way We Used To Watch: Vox to launch later this year
Blogging/social networking service to offer better control over who-sees-what; this is observed to fit trends against compelling public personal blogging and public interblog conversation.

We think there's a need for a different kind of communication service. We've learned from the best bloggers in the world - our customers - that there's a time for publishing to the world and a time for communicating with just friends and family. Many people still don't blog because they don't want to post private stories and photos and have them viewed by outsiders. With Vox, we've given people control over what they share and who they share it with. We believe that control over privacy will give people the freedom to write and share with the people they care about.

100 Reasons Why I Love Comics [LinkMachineGo #76-100] [#51-75] [#26-50] [#1-25]
Neilalien is honored and humbled to be on this and any such list- especially considering that 95% of these lists are made up of actual creators and works of art.

Neilalien's Favorites of MoCCA 02006

Neilalien got a special MoCCA-donation sketch this year- one that he's wanted for a long time: Doctor Strange by dashing Dean Haspiel! [See the sweet full scan]. Dino's been contributing his signature Kirby-inspired art style and storytelling just about everywhere, from Harvey Pekar (The Quitter) to Nickelodeon Magazine to Marvel (The Thing: Night Falls On Yancy Street). Check out this sweet Doc headshot, and then go see what's at DeanHaspiel.com [LiveJournal] for more delights from this talented toonist.

Monster Cops by Chip Zdarsky
"Feared by the very people they're sworn to protect, legendary monsters Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman renounced their evil ways and became cops... Monster Cops." Very amusing, and richly cartooned and grey-toned, this single collects four previously-released items spanning 02003 to the present. Just when you thought there was nothing more or fresh to be done with these characters. Apparently it won't be in Previews for 3-4 months and then won't ship until 3-4 months after that- but Neilalien will remind you. Or, you could just start reading Chip Zdarsky's LiveJournal for yourselves for updates [ChipStudio.com portfolio site] [PrisonFunnies.com].

Tales to Demolish #3 by Eric Haven
Weird Neilalien fave Tales to Demolish returns with #3, and this time the deliciously thick art is in yummy full color, with a cover partly inspired by the "cheesy allure" of The Avengers #116 (one of the Avengers-Defenders War issues, natch). Tales about the ancient secret war between mammals and reptiles, a quite literal reading of the Old West's gunslingers, and more, including a laugh-out-loud "Doctor Arcanus" one-pager.
[Tales to Demolish #3 at Last Gasp]

Honorable Mention

Weird Sister by Elizabeth Genco with Adam Boorman, Dash Shaw and Jeffrey Zornow
From the website: "The WEIRD SISTER anthology contains three stories about Daleth, a modern witch who finds herself alone in a hostile Brooklyn. Luckily, she's got a host of the old gods and a grumpy black ghost dog at her side." Neilalien enjoyed this book- although he'd probably like to see more interesting powers than "one big move that takes out the baddie and ends the story", although that might not jive with Daleth's values to only use her great powers under extreme duress. (Also more God- and context-specific manifestations: if the action takes place on a dock on the water, Neilalien would rather see summoned ondines or Poseidon instead of a fireball from Diana (although Diana/Artemis does protect children, so some context is in the story).) This book is a perfect smallpress recommendation for the many people in that apparent Venn-Diagram overlap of Dr. Strange fans, horror fans, walkers of pagan spiritual paths, etc. Paypal makes it easy. [Elizabeth Genco] [Adam Boorman] [Dash Shaw] [Jeff Zornow]

The Living End #1 by Devin T. Quin, Michael Lockwood and Josh Siegel
The philosophy of new comics publisher Dead Fish Comics can be summed up in a rant by headman Quin against the comics of today: "Where's the face punching?!" Their intended forte is old-school fisticuffs, funny and fresh freakishness, all narrated in the Stan Lee style, so if that's your fix, and you know it is, pick up The Living End. Note to self: When a man licks a turtle instead of dying in a car crash, thus becoming a mystical superhero by night and a rotten corpse by day- such a man should never stay overnight at a girl's house through until morning.

How much does Neilalien love the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Art Festival? Let's put it this way: The annual battery recharging that being in a room with so many fun passionate creative beautiful people provides is one of the direct reasons why this weblog has enjoyed the longevity it has.

Neilalien's antisocial outsider ways mean that (1) he likes to keep these event-recap types of posts all about the comic books themselves and the creators, rather than himself and the look-at-me, and (2) he usually mingly-meets no one new and gets no names to drop anyway. But someone slipped a mickey in Neilalien's booze this weekend- he was uncharacteristically friendly. And now he'll uncharacteristically blog about it... (He blames Duckie's penchant for inappropriate personal sharing- must be rubbing off on him.) It's quickly becoming the case that comics events are beginning to feel "less" like events now to Neilalien if they don't include drinking with Duckie, BeaucoupKevin and Crisis/Boring Change (guess we can call them the Graphic Language Posse now). Also required are always-learn-something-new-about-comics chats with Egon- and Jim Salicrup (now Editor-in-Chief of teen graphic novel publisher Papercutz) is full of great old-school Ditko and Marvel anecdotes. This year's festivities also included notable meetings with wonderful creators/bloggers Metrokitty and Earth Minds Are Weak; First Second Books' Ginafirstsecond (damn Neilalien's policy of not accepting free review copies of any kind!); and Comic Foundry's Tim Leong (btw, you did know that Comic Foundry is (a) a print magazine, (b) staking claim to the massive chasm between The Comics Journal and Wizard, and (c) pretty darn good, right?).

And in what can only be attributed to a once-per-lifetime celestial alignment- or one hell of a mickey- Neilalien had the honor and pleasure of introducing himself and briefly talking for the first time in person with two of comics' current premiere webloggers (when you've been around as long as Neilalien has, you get to say "current") on the same weekend: Stan Lee biographer The Comics Reporter, and The Beat (which means Neilalien will no longer be able to play his creepo Bruce Wayne games with her at mutually-attended NYC comicdom events as he has over the years).

Item: Main MoCCA man Lawrence Klein's father commands the sketching table at the Art Festival. His voice sounds almost exactly like Stan Lee's. It's more than a simple product of two men from similar generations both growing up in Brooklyn. It's eerie. Neilalien's going to bring an mp3 recorder next year and have the man exclaim, "Excelsior, Neilalien! Excelsior!" to use for this weblogger's own sick, private purposes.

And if that wasn't enough, then the Buzzcocks go and blast the doors off Irving Plaza.

WizardWorld Philadelphia has big Dr. Strange news! Civil War #3; regular guest-star or group member somewhere later on? [Newsarama]

Brevoort explained that readers will see where Dr. Strange's allegiances fall in Civil War #3, and, in addition to the Brian K Vaughan/Marcos Martin miniseries due to launch in October, the character will be seen fairly regularly in a mainstream Marvel title after Civil War.

Ditko's Thing favorably reviewed; has more balls than House of Mystery [Chris Allen]

The latest comics distribution meta-problem discussion [The Engine] [via Steven Grant with more]
Any "solution" pales when compared to achieving an entirely new and separate non-Marvel/DC/Diamond/Superhero/Direct Market marketing, distribution and audience-building system; what it means and how it hurts to sell >100K of the Marvel/DC book you work on and <20K of your own indie; growing the 300 shops that support non-Marvel/DC into 500 is most important thing right now; the worst part of comics' outside public perception is 'low entertainment value' not superhero or geekiness; caution flags if you think that bookstores are that alternate system; etc.

Why Questionable Facts Go Unchallenged [Near-Mint Heroes]
Why a lot of comics journalism and websites are poor. No training or standards, have to stay in the companies' good graces, doing more than parroting press releases takes work, the negative gets more traffic, etc.

How Will a Gay Icon Fly at the Box Office? [LA Times]
Gays are apparently drawn to the iconography of men with nice physiques doing physical things in flamboyant skin-tight costumes, like superheroes, especially if they're not fully accepted by society, like X-Men mutants, and live double lives, like with secret identities, especially with all those live-in Robins and Wongs- but profiteers who actually play to that risk alienating the major actionexplodo straight 18-to-35 male demographic.
Update: Defamer has been all over the "Superman Returns Gay" beat
Bryan Singer calls Superman Returns his first chick flick; exploring Superman's non-Kryptonite vulnerable side and the ever-growing meme of Lois/Clark romance/soap-opera on TV [NY Times]

Five self-contained one-shots, beginning in September and coming out twice a month. Each book features a lead story written by Stan in which he interacts with one of the Marvel characters, a second story by modern day talents in some way paying homage to Stan's body of work and accomplishments, and a third classic reprinted story written by Stan featuring the character from the first story.

Bendis: I talked to Steve Ditko this week. We were setting up these interviews and you were nice enough to say yes, and Steranko is going to do one and he's kind of an impossible get, and some other people are doing this who are very hard to get. So I was talking to our mutual friend Ralph Macchio. Ralph is in contact with Steve Ditko and is very aware that Steve doesn't do interviews, but I said, 'Boy, What a coup to get him.' So Ralph said, 'Listen, I can get you on the phone with him. We can at least try.' So I got on the phone with him. I said, 'Hi. My name is Brian Bendis and I write Spider-Man for the last few years.' And he went 'Uh huh.' I said, 'We're doing these interviews.' And he said, 'Well, I don't do interviews.' I'm like: 'Yeah, well, I knew that it was a long shot. I just thought that I would try. Can I ask you why you don't do interviews?' He goes: 'Oh, you know what? That's an excellent question. But it's an interview question and I don't do interviews.' And that was the end of the phone call.

[Thanks Howard, Charles!]

Doc uber-fan Howard Hallis' collection is part of the Marvel Super Heroes exhibit at the California Science Center [lots of pics]

Avi Arad resigns as Chairman/CEO of Marvel Studios, will stay on to produce [Newsarama]
Arad is credited as one of the people who saved Marvel from the brink. Looks like he's smartly cashing out on an X-Men 3 high note now that all the A-List properties are used up.

Menace to Comic Heroes? [Los Angeles Times]
"Digital piracy is creeping into the industry, threatening small publishers. Some say, though, that it can attract new readers."

Straight (and Not) Out of the Comics [New York Times]
A world in which green skin is more common than brown tries for more diversity, by dusting off characters not seen for 30 years and reintroducing them as token minorities. Batwoman is getting Rawhide-Kidded and revamped into a lesbian.
The return of Batwoman- as a lesbian socialite [Independent UK Online]

Doctor Strange is a fictional character who appears in, and is wholly owned by, Marvel Comics.
This site is not official nor affiliated with Marvel Comics.
This site is for academic and personal use.
Images of Doctor Strange and other characters are owned by their respective owners, and are used via fair use out of love without permission.
This site has no intention of diluting, risking or exploiting anyone's ownership or the money-making ability of their own properties, trademarks, and copyrights.
It is this site's sincere hope that the owners, especially Marvel Comics, are rational people who "get" the internet and fandom,
and can perceive this site as a free generator of positive promotion and interest, even when this site might be critical of how they are using their properties, or place their properties in humorous, satiric, parodic or ironic situations.